Compounding pharmacies see success

Medical care isn't a one size fits all situation that's why doctors and pharmacists, when it comes to medications for each individual patient, are looking to individualize when possible.

That has brought about many compounding pharmacies that can formulate a medicine that's just right for you.

It's a sterile environment inside at Anderson Pharmacy's compounding room. The pharmacists are formulating specific medicines for specific problems for a specific individual.

They fill a need with what was normal back when medicines were mixed up by a pharmacist at the recommendation of a doctor before mass production came around. "Really a physician was a compounding physician and the he sent it to the compounding pharmacist which was about all you had at that time and they would formulate it together and dispense it," pharmacist Cleve Anderson said.

Anderson Pharmacy is a conventional pharmacy like any other, but they saw a need and wanted to meet it for their patients. "I saw them come in saying that they would have diabetic neuropathy in their feet. There was nothing available to treat them with and I said gosh, there's got to be some way of helping these patients," Anderson said.

That has grown making Anderson's one of many across the region that makes medicines specifically for an ailment or specific to a particular patient.

They've even got more specific with a clinic designed especially for women undergoing menopause. "I never really looked at compounding until I got to really researching for my mom to try to find something that would help her symptomatically, but not place her at greater risk in terms of breast cancer. Through all of that compounding seemed like the ideal choice," says pharmacist Dera Stalnaker.

And the choice for many with specific medical needs. "It's changing lives basically because we've had patients come in and we've come up with a formula for them. They come back in the next time and they'll say 'I can't believe I'm not in pain anymore,' or 'I can walk without my feet hurting,'" Anderson said.

Just as we're finding out about a lot of things, going back to a simpler way of doing things can be a big help.